COVID’s nail in the EAC

How the East African Community may not survive the current pandemic and why this may be a good thing

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The coronavirus disease has exposed the deep holes in the dream and delusions of the East African Community (EAC). It has not caused them. The gapping holes between the aspirations of the EAC’s key advocates on the one hand, and the reality of our economies and their politics on the other were already visible to those who cared to look. Most fans of regional integration schemes ignore the vital role of enlightened self-interest in the success of public policy.

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Museveni’s bad oil policy

The President has revealed three things about Uganda’s oil sector that are depressing and illuminating

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | In his interview with NBS television aired on May 11, President Yoweri Museveni revealed three things about Uganda’s oil sector that were depressing and illuminating. First he said the reason Uganda has not moved fast towards production is because international oil companies (IOCs) want to “cheat” the country as they have done in many other African countries. So Uganda has had to be extremely careful not to fall in the same trap.

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In defense of Shs 10 billion for MPs

Why Kadaga is right and Museveni is wrong about the role of MPs in the Coronavirus fight

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Uganda’s elites are very angry that their legislators allocated themselves Shs10 billion to aid the fight against the coronavirus. Many see the act as a form of corruption, arguing that the MPs are taking this money for themselves. President Yoweri Museveni, in characteristic opportunistic style, has joined Uganda’s chattering elites in condemning parliament, and so have the courts of law. In the ensuing cacophony of shrill alarms reason has been thrown to the wind. One has to be dangerously ignorant, or a fool or a demagogue to condemn MPs for what they did.

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